the Gently Mad

OK, so EVERYBODY has some sort of music post where they share their musical meanderings of the past week or so.

But that’s because they’re cool. I love these kinds of posts because I like to find out what people are listening to and I like to discover new music.

So, here it is at the Gently Mad. The first Music Monday, er Tuesday post.

I’ve discovered a couple bands lately that have been great. Every now and then I’ll stuble across a band or musician that that is so awesome, it makes all the time spent wading through all the crap worth it.

Here are a couple that have proved to be great.

Frightened Rabbit

Hailing from Glasgow, these guys are a little bit Snow Patrol, a little bit Counting Crows and all around great. Great songwriting, great sound.

Album: The Midnight Organ Fight

Song: Backwards Walk

Why are the best songs always about breaking up?

Blind Pilot

Straight up folk. And I love it. They sound like I would image This Shins would sound on VH1 Storytellers.

Album: 3 Rounds and a Sound

Song: Paint or Pollen

Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken

Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken’s new EP has been out for a while now, but I’ve found myself listening to it quite a bit. I’ve always thought Derek Webb was a great writer of love songs and this EP showcases his skills in this area.

EP: Ampersand

Song: Watch Your Mouth

Longtime Atlanta Braves announcer Skip Caray died Sunday at his Atlanta-area home. He was 68.

In this 1991 photo, three generations of Carays called the same game. Hall of Fame baseball announcer Harry Caray (center) did the Cubs’ broadcast while son Skip (right) and grandson Chip pulled the Braves duties.

I’m no sports fan by any sense of the word. But I do enjoy baseball. Maybe it’s the nostalgia from my childhood or just the fun of going to a game every now and then, I don’t know.

Some of the most vivid memories of my childhood involve going to Braves games with my dad. We didn’t go to very many. I think he liked listening to the games more. Some of the earliest memories I have are of riding around in the car listening to the Braves. And, of course, to Skip Caray calling the games.

I know he will be missed.

Read the story here.

I love your quirkiness  ❀  I love how you “cuddle” me  ❀  I love your hair  ❀  I love how beautiful you are  ❀  I love your passion  ❀  I love how everything is exciting to you  ❀  I love your hands and toes  ❀  I love your sincerity  ❀  I love your tender-heartedness  ❀  I love how you care about people  ❀  I love your artsiness  ❀  I love your distaste with the status quo  ❀  I love how you love me  ❀  I love your taste in music, books and movies  ❀  I love how you need to be close to me  ❀  I love how you care about our children  ❀  I love that our family is the first priority in your life  ❀  I love your boldness  ❀  I love how your style and tastes have very little to do with what is hip or cool at the moment  ❀  I love how classy you are  ❀  I love how you put up with me  ❀  I love how you make me feel like I’m the only man for you and the only one who can make you happy  ❀  I love how you realize your faults and want to change them  ❀  I love how important your relationship with Christ is to you  ❀  I love that you’re teachable  ❀  I love how you call me “berb”  ❀  I love how you want to share all aspects of your life with me  ❀  I love how you are willing to follow me anywhere  ❀  I love how modern notions of “security” are not your top priority  ❀  I love that you’re willing to apologize when you realize you are wrong  ❀  I love how you challenge me to be a better man  ❀  I love that you don’t need lots of “things” to be happy  ❀  I love how you’re willing to follow Christ, even if it’s painful  ❀  I love how you make me feel at home  ❀  I love how you are able to take care of things that would drive me crazy  ❀  I love your excitement about being a mother and raising our family  ❀  I love how you see through all the crap of modern feminism  ❀  I love how you see through all the crap of modern christianity  ❀  I love that you’re ticklish  ❀  I love your crazy accents and rap impressions  ❀  I love how thoughtful you are  ❀  I love how your presence immediately brightens any situation  ❀  I love how you mess with me  ❀  I love how you make me feel like you could be happy anywhere in any circumstance as long as I am there  ❀  I love how you wait up for me every night  ❀  I love how you don’t make me feel bad for not having a lot of money  ❀  I love how you don’t judge me for my faults and inconsistencies  ❀  I love how charming you are  ❀  I love how you live in the moment  ❀  I love how much you love Christ

Happy birthday darling. I love you.

Just heard this quote five minutes ago from a real person:

It makes me feel good to have name brand things. I could die tomorrow, but I’ll be wearing Dior.

I accidentally left my iPod at home when I left for work the other day. My commute is about 45 minutes and my iPod has been a trusty and faithful companion.

So, on this particular drive home I turned on the radio and hit the scan button which scans through each station, staying on each one for about 10 seconds or so.

I came across at least half a dozen different stations that were broadcasting sermons or christian music and stopped to listen for a few minutes at each. It was appalling.

I won’t even get into the music stations, other than to say it’s been so long since I listened to popular CCM that I couldn’t believe the ridiculousness of what I was hearing.

The sermons, I found, were no better.

I have no idea who was preaching these sermons, but I didn’t hear a solid gospel-centered exposition in any of them. Texts were being completely pulled out of context for the speaker’s own shallow applications.

The only example I remember was one preacher “expositing” John 9 where Jesus heals a man blind from birth.  If you’re not familiar with the story, read the chapter. The speaker’s main point from this entire passage was that we should help people… like Jesus did.

Are you serious?

He also used Luke 6:1-5 where the pharisees accused Jesus of not keeping the sabbath to say that obviously Jesus was keeping the sabbath and the pharisees just got it wrong. His application? Sometimes people will accuse you of not doing things the right way, but, just like Jesus, you have to stand your ground and do it your way anyway.

I guess I have been spoiled by great preaching and podcasts for so long that I forgot what was being propagated out there as truth. And what saddend me the most, was that if someone really searching for help were to turn on the radio to find it… well, they’re pretty much screwed.

Very interesting article over at DangitBill! that I found via Challies.

For a long time I’ve wanted to write at length about homeschooling and its place in our world. I have very strong opinions because I was homeschooled. Nevertheless, I haven’t yet had the time to collect my thoughts in a way that would be profitable. However, that may change in comming days as my family continues to grow in size.

Brian Sandifer, who is a homeschooling dad, has written a great post that’s a start in understanding some of my fundamental frustrations with homeschooling and homeschoolers.

Everyone acknowledges that the public school system in American needs reforming. It is producing graduates that are less and less prepared for the workforce, college, and the global marketplace. But the message went far beyond that. The speaker asserted that the public school system is working perfectly–just as it was designed to do. In other words, it’s not broken; it’s evil! In a perfect world it wouldn’t even exist. Public schooling was portrayed as useless, enslaving, stupifying, and monopolizing. The funny thing is that EVERYONE in the room (including the speaker) was educated in the public school system! (It didn’t seem to terribly fail us.) We were addressed as refugees and escapees of the system, as the only ones who are enlightened to the nature and purpose of REAL education. It occurs to me that the perceived problem framed in these terms amounts to a harmartiology.

Continue reading here.

The little peanut is due on March 4, 2009…

Being an editor at a newspaper, I am frequently astounded at some of the things that come across my desk.

Tomorrow we’re running a story that, quite possibly, is one of the most ludicrous I’ve ever read.

It goes like this:

Boy meets girl. Boy proposes to girl. Boy backs out after getting cold feet. Girl sues Boy. Jury finds in favor of girl, saying boy entered into a legally binding contract when he proposed and should now be forced to pay girl $150,000 in damages.

I… am speechless. I literally have no words… Are you English or retarded? (to quote Will Ferrell)

Does this mean anytime you make a verbal commitment to someone, whether it’s setting a time for a meeting or agreeing to a purchase, and then back out, they have the right to sue you?

In case you’re not sure, the answer is OF COURSE NOT!

This is just another example of the depths to which our legal system has sunk. I really am astounded. Although, I don’t know why. Our political and legal system is a farce at best.

Moral of the story? Everyone who has ever dumped me better watch out. I’m coming for you. And it’s time to get rich.

Read the story here.

Again with the recommendation for Steve McCoy. Here is my response to his “Top 5 Romantic Movies” post.

As a preface, I would say that I don’t define romance as strictly “happy.” That being said each of these movies leave me with a sense of wonder at life and love and hope for the future.

I’ve devided my list into films that deal with romance and love and those that would be classified by Hollywood as “Romantic Comedies.”

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Probably the most romantically hopeful film I’ve ever seen and one of my favorite films of all time.

2. Garden State: Again, incredibly hopeful about love and life. Another all-time favorite.

3. Punch Drunk Love: Incredible portrayal of one man’s struggle to be understood and accepted for who he is. I guess I just love films that accept that life is broken and full of pain and still find reasons to believe in the power of love.

4. Lost In Translation: There’s just too much to say about this film. What an ending! If you haven’t seen it, drop whatever you’re doing right now and go watch it. Your soul may depend on it…

5. The Village: Say what you will about M. Night Shyamalan, but The Village is, at its heart, a love story. And a great one.

Honorable Mentions:

Pride and Prejudice: This is like romantic crack.

Moonlight Mile: Great film about the often inextricable nature of loss and love.

Romantic Comedies

1. Return to Me: THE greatest romantic comedy of all time.

2. Love Actually: Amazing. Great film. This is one of the best “happy ending” romantic comedies. It’s impossible to walk away from this film and not feel happy. And many of its observations about love and romance are surprisingly truthful and poignant, for Hollywood.

3. You’ve Got Mail: For every guy who has had to work hard at convincing the girl he loves to love him back. Is there a better romantic comedy couple than Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan?

4. When Harry Met Sally: Classic. This is one of the rare films that left such an impression that it has become an indelible part of pop culture (e.g. I’ll have what she’s having). The style of modern romantic comedies owes much to this one.

5. Serendipity: Just a great light-hearted all-around good romantic comedy. And who can resist John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale?

Honorable Mentions:

The Philadelphia Story: OK, classics are an entire different category all their own, but this one is great. One of the best scripts ever written, in my opinion. Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. They just don’t make movies like this anymore.

Annie Hall: Woody Allen’s second best film in my opinion and one that has set the tone for all great romantic comedies since.

Find out here.